Strip sharpening method



vOriginal Filed March 12, 195] Jan. 8, 1963 c. DELAFONTAINE 3,071,904

' STRIP SHARPENINGl METHOD 3 sheets-sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

Y c.Dr-:LAF0NTA1NE 3,071,904 STRIP SHARPENING METHOD Original FiledMarch 12, 195] Jan. s, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ed@ v.5 @auf 6mm. mugs0.1M. mg mv.

Jan. 8, "19463 c. DELAFoN-rAl'NE STRIP smRPENING mon Original FiledMarch 12,*'1951 s shets-sneet s 4 INVENroR. 'arle Mafvzzaz'zze y#free/'JEVS' m mv m# m. Y N N mvum num mom @o W mmv omv G m 0mm- Q @mV/yLEEEII ....i mhh |l|| :I Y v :wth N @if 2n non mv|` f L IHIIIIIJ/h o o rum r EN Is h mov mm* i v E mi 3v hvmmv y Q |.mm ov \1l .v Nv 5mm e GNNWPatented Jan. 8, 1963 3,071,904 STRIP SHARPENING METHOD CharlesDelafontaine, North Hollywood, Calif., asslgnor to Bank of AmericaNational Trust and Savings Association, Los Angeles, Calif., a nationalbanking corporation of the United States of America Application May 2,1955, Ser. No. 505,343, now Patent No. 2,911,762, dated Nov. 10, 1959,which is a division of application Ser. No. 215,127, Mar. 12, 1951, nowPatent No. 2,709,874, dated June 7, 1955. Divided and this applicationJune 22, 1959, Ser. No. 822,163

2 Claims. (Cl. 51-281) This invention relates to a method for sharpeningthe edges of strips of metal, alud has particular reference to a methodfor continuously grinding, honing and stropping metal strips to be usedfor safety razor blades.

This application is a division of my copending application, Serial No.505,343, led May 2, 1955, now Patent No. 2,911,762, dated November 10,1959, which in turn was a division of my copending application SerialNo. 215,127, filed in the United States Patent Office on March 12, 1951,now Patent No. 2,709,874, dated lune 7, 1955.

One of the principal objects of my invention is to provide a novelmethod for continuously sharpening an edge or edges of thin metal stripsto a high degree of iineness.

In United States Letters Patent No. 2,492,292 and No. 2,492,293, issuedDecember 27, 1949, to George Douglas Jones et al. and to George DouglasJones, respectively, are disclosed various forms of razors employing aribbontype blade, that is, a blade of considerable length which isunspooled from a magazine to present successive unused portions asdesired. This .so-called ribbon blade presents sharpening problemsunique in the industry. Accordingly,` it is an important object of myinvention to provide a method for sharpening strips of metal to b usedas ribbon-type razor blades.

One of the diiculties encountered in the production of ribbon-type razorblades is the inspection of the steel strips after sharpening. In theproduction of conventional safety razor blades, inspection of thesharpened blades is relatively simple, since the strip, aftersharpening, is cut into the individual blades which may then beinspected individually without interference with the sharpeningoperation, and the faulty blades discarded. Finished ribbon-type bladesof the character described are approximately forty inches in length, asopposed to the approximate one and one-half inch length of theconventional razor blades, and to reserve the inspection of these longblades until they have been cut to the desired length would require therejection of an entire blade where perhaps only a very short length ofthe same is defective. When the relatively high cost of the specialsteel required for these blades is considered, it will be understoodthat inspection in the manner described would be a wasteful andexpensive process. Another object of my invention is, then, to provide anovel method for selective inspection of the strip as it is beingsharpened. `Other objects and advantages of this invention it isbelieved will be apparent from the following detailed description of apreferred embodiment thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

In the drawings:

FIGURES la, 1b and 1c are top plan views of a sharpening machineembodying my invention.

Referring now to the drawings, the general arrangement of a machine usedto carry out the method, as shown in FIGURES la, 1b and 1c will be brieydescribed. A coil of thin strip steel 30 is mounted on a supply reel 31and the strip is fed through a grinding station generally indicated 32,a rough hone station 33, a finish hone station 34, thence through acleaner unit 35, and then through the stropping station 36. The strip 30is then led through the pull-out station generally indicated 37, fromwhence it is formed into a loop 38 and led through the final inspectionstation 39. The strip passes through intermittent drive unit 40, isformed into a second loop 41, and then led through constant drive unit42 where the finished sharpened strip is coiled on a take-up reel 43.

The various units forming the respective stations are mounted on a basegenerally indicated 44 which includes a pair of tubular rail members 45extending substantially the entire length of the machine. The reel 31,which may include `a circular steel plate 46 having a central hub 46a,is journaled on a shaft 47 which is in turn supported on an arm 48mounted on the base 44. Mounted adjacent the reel 31 on the arm 48 is acenter guide member 49 through which the strip 30 is passed, the guidemember serving to align the strip centrally of the machine. The gui-demember 49 may be pivotally connected to the arm 48 as =at 50 to providefor adjustment thereof.

The grinding station 32 includes a pair of opposed parallel grindingrolls 51 and 52 each having stub shafts 53 and 54 respectively at eitherend journaled in bearing blocks 55 and 56. The bearing blocks 55 and 56are secured to the blocks 58 and 59 which are4 in turn slidablysupported at an angle on the base members 60 for adjustment of thegrinding members with respect to the strip by manipulation 'of thewheels 61 and 62. This adjustment mounting is substantially identicalwith that provided for the honing stations and will be described withmore particularity below. The grinding rolls 51 and 52 each includes aplurality of grinding wheels of conventional design, the wheels on oneof the grinding members being staggered with respect to and interlockedwith the wheels on the other member. The grinding rolls rotatedownwardly with respect to the vertical strip 30 to grind the upper edge`thereof and are driven by means of V-belt drives 65 `and 66 from amotor 67 and a motor (not shown). The strip 30 as it passes between thegrinding wheels 63 and 64 is maintained in the proper vertical positionby means of hold-down rolls 69, one pair of rolls being on either sideof the grinding rolls.

The prim-ary punpose of the 4grinding station 32 is to remove excessstock from the strip 30 and to bring the vertical dimension, or width ofthe strip, within the desired limits. Accordingly, means are providedfor measuring the width of the `strip las it leaves-the grindingstation, and as shown in the drawings, particularly FIG- URE la. Thesemeans may include the gauge 84 which is of conventional design. Thegauge 84 is secured to a transverse base member 88 which in turn iscarried on the rails 45.

The ground strip proceed-s from the above described measuring station tothe rou-gh hone station 33 which includes xa pair of opposed parallelhoning rolls 93 and 94 disposed longitudinally in the direction of fthestrip. These rolls are of lt-he helical or worm type and rotatedownwardly `against the upper edge of the strip 30 so that theiroperating surfaces advance towards the ground edge of the strip. Therolls 93 and '94 are carried on shafts 95 and 96 respectively which arejournaled in suitable bearings on the arms 97 and 98. These arms aresecured to block members 99 `and 100 which lare slidably i mounted onbase members 1021 `and 102. The base members are secured to a framewhich is mounted on the rails 45. v

Control means :are provided for the block member 99, and as shown in thedrawings, these means `may include a control shaft .110 provided withhand wheel 111. Drive means `are provided for the honing rolls 93 and94, and as shown in the drawings these Vmeans may include a motor (notshown), the 4shattit of which is connected by means of the V-belts 126to a pulley 127 carried on honing roll shaft 96. Since the honing rollsare of the worm type and operate in mesh, the rotation of therespe-ctive rolls must be in synchronism. The shaft 95, therefore, isconnected to the shaft 95 by suitable transmission gearing 128 to drivethe same. This gearing is further arranged so that one or both of thehoning rolls may be moved outwardly and out of mesh withoutdisengagement of the transmission gears, thus preserving the synchronousrelationship between the two honing rolls.

The strip 30 moves from the rough hone Vstation to the optical sizer orcomparator generally indicated 200 where the width of the blade ischecked to determine if the honing rolls 93 and 94 are properly set. Itwill be understood that at this stage of the operation it is essentialthat the partially sharpened edge of the strip not be contacted by anypart of the apparatus, and hence the width of the strip cannot bemeasured wi-th a ygauge similar to the gauge 84. Accordingly, theoptical sizer 200 is provided which includes a |base member 201 mountedon the rails 45.

From the optical sizer the strip 30 proceeds to the nish hone station34. This station is substantially identical withthe rough hone stationpreviously described with the exception that the honing rolls are nerthan those used at the rough hone station. As shown, the grinding rollsand transmission gears are provided with cover members 213 and 219respectively.

The strip is continuously pulled yfrom the tinish hone station to thecleaner unit 35 where coolant which adheres to the strip is removed fromthe sharpened strip. The cleaner unit includes `a base 2,20 mounted onthe rails 45 and a cleaner block assembly 222.

The cleaned blade is given a nal polish at the stropping station 36which is generally similiar to the grinding station previouslydescribed, with the exception that the stropping rolls 245 and 246 areof a material such as leather and rotate in the opposite direction. Thatis, the rolls rotate upwardly with respect to the strip. This upwardforce against ithe sharpened edge of the strip tends to lift the stripfrom `a Carboloy insert base, and hence means are provided to firmlyhold Ithe strip down ag-ainst the base. As shown in the drawings, thesemeans may include the-pairs of hold-down rolls 69a, 69b and 69.

The pull-out station 37 is provided with rolls for continuously pullingthe stri-p through the respective stations described above. As shown inFIGURE 1c, this station includes a base member 295 secured to the rails45 and carrying a support frame. Mounted on the frame is `a pair ofpull-out rolls 297 and 298 cooperating with a central pull-out roll 299which is secured to a shaft journialed in bearings in the yframe. Theshaft is connected to a variable speed motor (not shown). The motor ismounted on auxiliary rails 305 secured to the base 44 `at one end andsupported iat the other end by a jack member 306.

As shown, the strip 30 is passed through the bite between rolls 297 land299 and then around the roll 299 and through the bite between the rolls299 and 298. A semicircular guide plate 310 is mounted on the -frame anddirects the strip around the roll 298 and forwardly therefrom to formthe loop 38.

The rolls 297 and 298 are pivotally mounted with respect to the frame.

As pointed out above, as the strip 30 proceeds from the pull-out stationit is formed into a loop 38. The loop is supported by `a table 330. Thepair of hold-down rolls 69d act as friction brake means in maintainingthe loop in the proper position. The loop functions as a supply mediumfor the intermittent drive unit 40 (described more fully below) whichserves to present successive portions of the strip to the finalinspection station 39. By means of this loop it will be understood thatthe portion of the stripbetween the lsupply reel 311 and the pull-outstation 37 may be continuously in motion while that portion of thestrip'between the pull-out station 37 and the intermittent drive unit40fmay move intermittently with `a dwell of suihcient length of time topermit the sharpened edge of a portion of the strip to be inspected atthe inspection station 39.

The inspection station 39 consists of two identical visual inspectionunits 335 and 336, one on each side of the strip, and therefore only onewill be described in detail. The units 335 and 336 `are secured to abase member 337 mounted on the rails 45.

The inspection unit 335 includes a microscope 353 mounted at an anglefrom the horizontal as shown, and has .an upwardly inclined eye piece358.

The intermittent drive unit 40 includes a driving roll 375 and a drivenroll 376 mounted on shafts 377 and 78 respectively. The shaft 377 isjournaled in suitable bearings on the frame 380.

The driven roll 376 is pivotally mounted with respect to the frame muchin the same manner as the pull-out rolls 397 and 298, being providedwith an `arm 405 pivotally connected to the frame at one end and havingan adjusting link 406 pivotally connected to the other end, which linkhas an adjusting screw 407 engageable with a tab 408 on the frame. Thesharpened and inspected strip is pushed from the intermittent driverolls into a small loop 41 which leads to the constant drive rolls 42.

This unit 42 includes -a driving roll 416 and a driven roll 417 whichare generally similar to the intermittent driverolls previouslydescribed. Here, however, the driven roll, which is mounted on driveshaft 418, is driven at a constant speed by a stub shaft (not shown). Itwill be understood that by means of this drive connection the constantspeed rolls are driven at exactly the same speed as are driven thepull-out rolls 297 and 298i. Therefore, with the `above-describedarrangement `of constant speed pull-out rolls 297 and 298, loop 38,intermittent drive rolls 375 and 376, loop 41 and constant drive rolls416 and 417, I have provided means for feeding a strip continuously intoone end of the machine and out of the other end of the machine at thesame speed, while causing the strip to intermittently dwell -at a pointintermediate the two ends.

Mounted below the take-up reel 43 is a pulley 433 for a belt 434 whichis connected to a pulley (not shown) mounted beneath the driven roll 417for driving the takeup reel in synchronism with the constant speedrolls.

The take-up reel includes a circular plate 435 keyed to the reel shaftabout which the coil 437 of sharpened strip is wound. Means are providedfor holding the coil on the take-up reel, and las shown in the drawingsthese means may include the plurality of permanent magnets 438 set intothe plate.

A switch box 450 is mounted on the base 44 from which the conduit 451leads to the various electrical motors previously described. The box isprovided with switch buttons 452 for controlling the operation of thevarious elements of the machine.

Having fully described my invention, it is to be unders'tood that I donot wish to be limited to the details herein set forth, but myinven-tion is of the full scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A method of sharpening the edge of a strip material which includesthe steps of continuously moving a strip and during said movementsharpening an edge thereof, forming the strip into a loop, pulling thestrip intermittently from said loop, inspecting successive stationaryportions of the sharpened strip, and controlling said sharpening step inaccordance with the information conveyed by said inspecting step.

2. A method of sharpening the edge of a strip material` which includesthe steps of continuously moving References Cited in the le of thispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS Edison Jan. 6, Tarbox Mar. 1, Bodkin Apr.25, Mueller et al. Feb. 28, Lowe Mar. 25,

1. A METHOD OF SHARPENING THE EDGE OF A STRIP MATERIAL WHICH INCLUDESTHE STEPS OF CONTINUOUSLY MOVING A STRIP AND DURING SAID MOVEMENTSHARPENING AN EDGE THEREOF, FORMING THE STRIP INTO A LOOP, PULLING THESTRIP INTERMITTENTLY FROM SAID LOOP, INSPECTING SUCCESSIVE STATIONARYPORTIONS OF THE SHARPENED STRIP, AND CONTROLLING SAID SHARPENING STEP INACCORDANCE WITH THE INFORMATION CONVEYED BY SAID INSPECTING STEP.